Microsoft Surface Tablets to Hit the Streets Oct. 26

By CIOinsight |
Posted 07-31-2012

While Microsoft has announced its plans to launch its new Windows 8 operating system on Oct. 26, a company report indicates that the software giant also plans to roll out one of its much-hyped Surface tablets on the same day.

The company revealed the Surface debut date in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, discovered by ZDNet.

The filing, an annual report that offers an overview of the company, makes for interesting reading. In it, Microsoft refers to "Surface devices," suggesting there's more to be unveiled than new keyboards and mice, and notes the need to offer a "vibrant ecosystem" with which to attract and lock-in users, as the number of applications they buy over time become "disincentives for users to switch to competing platforms."

The business practices of Microsoft competitors Apple and Google are also described, though the companies aren't named.

In developing the Surface, Microsoft stepped away from its software-based roots--a necessary measure, it believes, for effectively competing against Apple and its complete, vibrant ecosystem.

"We are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple!" Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a July interview with CRN (though his full statement is more fun to read in poem form).

By creating its own hardware, however, Microsoft put itself in an awkward spot with its hardware partners, are also working on tablets running Microsoft's latest OS. It was a move, Microsoft acknowledges, that may jeopardize some of its relationships and so also income.

"Our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners," it states in the filing, "which may affect their commitment to our platform."

Microsoft also wrote that it will continue to invest in both hardware and software, as well as services--including cloud-based offerings--and technologies, working to create a halo effect around its products.

"Our degree of success with Windows Phone, for example, will impact our ability to grow our share of the smartphone operating system market," states the filing. "It will also be an important factor in supporting our strategy of delivering value to end users seamlessly over a variety of form factors, including PC, phone and TV device classes."

Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart has likewise forecast that if the Surface is a success, it could help drive sales of Windows Phone 8 smartphones, as well as lock consumers into Microsoft's cloud services, spanning both devices.